The 10 day Bet
by bitchfit26
Summary: Hermione is scheming on Blaise to indulge a dare. Draco is scheming on Hermione to win a bet. And someone is banking on them to hook up. All in 10 days.
1. Chapter 1

**The 10-day Bet**

_Hermione is scheming on Blaise to indulge a dare. Draco is scheming on Hermione to win a bet. And someone's banking on them to hook up. All in 10 days._

**I. Games and Stakes**

"WHAT?!"

"I said," Pansy looked at Hermione straight in the eyes as she answered. "I dare you to make a guy fall in love with you in ten days."

"Nice dare, Parkinson," Lavender said as she clapped a hand on Pansy's shoulder. The latter just returned her a naughty grin.

It was a Friday night and in honor of the weekend, the students of Hogwarts broke down to various social circles to hang out. Most of the seventh year girls confluxed at the Head Common Room with Head Girl Pansy Parkinson and played "Spin-the-Bottle".

Hermione was flabbergasted. "That's not how a dare should be! It should've been simple things like hop on one leg around the room or something!"

"What are you a circus performer?"

"C'mon Granger! This may be what your comatose love life needs!"

_Comatose love life?! _Hermione looked adamant. "My love life is not half dead!"

Pansy eyed her evilly. "Really? When was the last time you ever flirted with a guy?"

_Aw shit. Does sharing an ice cream in kindergarten count? _"Well…not that…too long…ago."

Pansy crossed the circle the girls made for the game and crawled to Hermione. "You're not going to weasel out of this game, are you?" she asked in a low husky voice.

"After all," Parvati whispered at her ear. "…you taught us this game."

"And," Susan Bones whispered in Hermione's other ear. "…the jinx has been placed in the bottle. Whoever refuses to comply will suffer the consequences."

"C'mon girl," Mabel, the black girl form Ravenclaw hollered. "You're the smartest witch in our year! You've handled our O.W.L.S. well. A boy can't be more difficult, can it?"

_Mabel sure knows her power of persuasion. _Hermione heaved a sigh. "Okay, okay. I'll do it. I'll choose a guy and get this dare over with!"

Pansy was quick on the uptake. "Not so fast, Granger. We," she gesticulated to the rest of the group. "…will choose the target."

There was a chorus of excited shrieks and giggles among the girls. Pansy, though smiling, never looked scarier than now.

_Drat, I really am going to concede to this dare! _Hermione thought helplessly.

The black-haired Slytherin seemed to enjoy the torture. "Okay, down to business. I need suggestions."

"How about Potter?" Mabel asked.

"Pffft, no way! He's too gay to function!" Lavender said with a lazy wave.

"Ron Weasely?"

"Ugh, too stupid." Parvati.

"Goldstein?"

"Are you kidding me? It would be an easy play! He wanks at the mere sight of Granger!"

Hermione blushed furiously. "Wha-"

Ignoring her, the suggestions continued pouring.

"Draco Malfoy?"

"Uh-uh," Pansy shook her head. "He's too smart. He'd be able to figure it out on the first hour. Besides, even I am not **that **extreme."

Hannah Abbot looked at Pansy thoughtfully. "So we need someone straight and stupid?"

Hermione snorted. "You could've thrown in Zabini!" She gave out another snort. "Straight and stupid…," she echoed Hannah.

"Perfect!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, why didn't I think of him?"

"Uh-huh, Mr. I-can't-live-without-a-hairbrush!"

Pansy crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess we have our target."

_Blaise 'flip-my-hair' Zabini. Ew._

oOo

"So you banged Chang, huh?" Blaise asked with a sneer.

Enjoying the attention, Draco Malfoy just smirked enigmatically. Being the Head Boy, he missed hanging out with the other boys in the Slytherin Common Room. Sharing the Head Dormitory with Pansy only made this rare opportunity more enjoyable.

"I'm not telling, Zabini," Draco replied. He watched the effect his words received. He's not really the braggart type but hearing Zabini boast of the girls who'd been kissing his beautiful ass has been getting into his nerves. Stealing some of his limelight wouldn't hurt. After all, Zabini may be Hogwarts' resident girl magnet but he, Draco Malfoy, is the black horse in the dealings with the opposite sex.

Crabbe was practically drooling. "Wow. You really know your way with girls, Malfoy."

"Yeah, you know how to play with them around your fingers, figurative or otherwise," Goyle scoffed.

Blaise gave a casual laugh. "But of course, there are girls immune to your charms, Malfoy."

_Envious, Zabini?_ "I don't think the world has produced the girl who can resist me," Draco drawled.

"Really? How about Parkinson?"

"What you don't know won't hurt you."

"Ginny Weasely?"

"She was interested. I wasn't."

_Asshole._ "The Patil twins?" Blaise suggested.

Sneer. "Did you not wonder who was the reason behind their sibling rivalry episode last year?"

"It was you?" Goyle was awestruck.

"Uh…how about Hermione Granger?" Crabbe asked.

_Her?! _"Who?" Draco suddenly felt the urge to give Crabbe the Cruciatus Curse.

_Bingo._ "Hermione Granger," Blaise repeated. "Resident nerd, epitome of quirkiness, most 'unfemale' female…" He eyed Draco with mocking eyes. "Bet she has never shown interest."

"She's too smart for Malfoy, Zabini," Harper jested. "She'll never take interest unless he's a librarian.."

"Granger may not have shown any interest yet, but I do pride myself for being 'charming'" Draco said pompously.

"You want to bet on that?" Blaise eyed him intently.

"Bet on what?" Draco asked.

Blaise eyed him menacingly. "Here are the terms: have Granger hook up with you in ten days, no love potions, no magic. Just have the shrew fall madly in love with you."

"And the stakes?"

"A hundred galleons and a nasty hex. If you're lucky, you might even get to shag the girl.'

Indecision did not even plague Draco. The more he thought of it, the more he liked it. _Granger may be difficult, but not insurmountable._

"Well?" The boys all looked at Draco expectantly.

"Granger will never know what had hit her."

Blaise watched the hooting and cheering group. _Draco will never know what had hit him._


	2. Chapter 2

**II. Round One**

Hermione fussed about her IPod as a really nasty song blared through her earphones during breakfast Saturday morning. The song, as she had programmed her IPod, reflected how she felt that morning.

'_Somewhere between the sacred silence and sleep, disorder. Disorder. Disorder.'_

She's having a terrible morning. She barely slept a wink the night before, wracking her brains for ideas to get Zabini smitten. The more ideas she entertained, the worse she felt. Giving up trying to get an eye shut, she went down to the Great Hall early. Yet, her queasy stomach could barely digest anything that she ended up playing with her food. Worse, her nose feels itchy.

_Great. The hex is taking effect, I barely even started._

She continued toying with her omelette. _Ugh, what a year this is._ She spent the summer taking a home study program where she learned to tinker with muggle contraptions to 'acclimatise' them for the magic world, the reason she brought her Ipod with her to Hogwarts. Had she known she'd be doing something like this in the first quarter of the school year, she should've taken another course, say "How to be a Delisciously Convincing Female" or "A Crash Course on Whoring Yourself" or better yet, "How to Lose Your Dignity and Self Respect in Ten Days". This dare had overthrown "Head Girl Parkinson Announcement" from her list of "Piss Offs of the Year".

_And, who knows, I just might top it off with the Spin-the-Bottle hex if I don't succeed._

_Great._

She looked up at the Slytherin table. She watched as the allegedly 'universally handsome' Blaise Zabini sit beautifully, having his breakfast while a couple of girls drool.

_What did they ever see in him, good looks? Ugh, I wouldn't even touch his astringent-soaked face with a 10-ft pole!_

_Personally, if you ask me, he's not the Slytherin I'm pining for._

While most girls were throwing their knickers at Zabini, she, Hermione Granger, is saving her underwear for a certain blond guy.

She recalled that night when Parvati gushed her praises for Draco Malfoy.

"It wasn't the size of the ship, Hermione! It was the wave of the ocean! Though, 'his' size wasn't bad."

Clever as she is, she got it. And it didn't help her Draco-hungry hormones.

Suddenly, her IPod sounded out something like a siren. Then a muggle pop song played.

At that exact moment, the Head Boy walked in the Great Hall.

He was fussing about his robes that he had taken them off right there in the middle of the hall. His usually impeccable uniform looked like they've been slept in and he seems to be battling a bad case of bed hair. His eyes looked puffy from lack of sleep.

Yet, quite a handful of female heads turned to his direction.

How does that song go again?

"_How come everytime you come around_

_My London, London Bridge wanna go down _

_(Like) London, London, London wanna go down_

_(Like) London, London, London, we goin' down like…"_

_How cute. Just the mere sight of him is enough to reduce me to some sexually- charged teenager. How warm- blooded could I be?_

"Done drooling over me, Granger?" Pulling out her earphones, Draco Malfoy looked down at her.

Startled, she snatched her earphones from Draco's hands and shoved her IPod in her robe's pockets.

_Damn Hormones! Think, Hermione! Think!_

"Sorry, Malfoy, I wasn't drooling over you. I just chanced upon seeing you waltzing in the Hall in your sleep-deprived ensemble when a very deep thought came to me."

Draco took a seat across her and gave her a head-spinning devious smile. "Let me guess. It just occurred to you that your hormones are practically screaming for me?"

Hermione crossed her arms over the table and leaned forward. "Close enough. My hormones were screaming something like 'when the specie start producing organisms like that, then its time to chlorinate the gene pool'."

Draco leaned forward, his nose inches from hers. "Clever, Granger. I'm quite amused with your little joke."

"Oh, the biggest joke is sitting there at the Slytherin table." Hermione whispered, nodding at Blaise's direction.

"Hey," Draco feigned hurt. "That's my friend you're trashing."

"Whatever," Hermione muttered as she continued to play with her food.

"A little birdie told me about a dare due in ten days."

Hermione dropped her fork and glared at Draco. "Parkinson told you?"

Draco grabbed Hermione's goblet and took a gulp. "Well, Pansy and I had a small celebration last night. You know, receiving our badges, catching up on each other's social calendar. She can be quite a chatterbox when she's drunk."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "How inspiring it is to hear that the Head Students are quite the figures to emulate." She eyeballed him. "You're not going to tell Zabini, are you?"

"Of course not!" He grinned at her. "I'm here to help you."

Hermioen laughed dryly. "That's a bloody hangover you have there, Malfoy. First you sat in the Gryffindor table. Second, you're getting all chummy with me. Third, you offered to help scheme against your best friend. You Slytherins sure are funny people."

Draco wagged a finger at her. "Tsk, tsk, Granger, Granger. I've done more than just 'sitting' on the Gryffindor table before (Hermione cringed.) Second, I'm not getting chummy with you, they're called diplomacy. Lastly, I offered help because I'd be doing myself a favor if you succeeded." At Hermione's furrowed eyebrows, he whispered huskily, "It would mean one less competitor with Pansy."

"Oh." Hermione's thoughts were swirling. _It's her! It's HER! Why does it have to be HER?_

The "Head Girl" news has just been dethroned. It was abruptly replaced with the "Malfoy –offered-help-so-I-can-help-him-with-Parkinson" surprise.

_That makes two reasons to murder the Head Girl!_

"…the fact that I," Draco continued. "..know more about Blaise than anybody else. Capitalize on that and you'll win the dare."

_And I'll win my bet, _he thought evilly.

"Say, how long a stay in Azkaban for murdering the Head Student?" Hermione blurted out, her thoughts still on the new "Piss-Off of the Year".

"Excuse me?" Draco asked.

"Nothing." Hermione stood up and turned to leave. "Thanks for your surprising show of altruism but I'd rather deal with this on my own." She left hurriedly, not wanting him to see how, of all times, her bloody eyes just got bloody misty.

The blond Slytherin's gaze followed Hermione's form as ran for the Great Hall's exit. _Phase one has officially started._

Amidst the chattering of the students down for breakfast, two amusement-glistened pairs of eyes darted to and from Hermione and Draco. _One-zero to Malfoy._

oOo

Hermione incinerated her fifth parchment of essay with a loud groan. The chaotic state of her emotions has been steadily manifesting in her assignment that the last one she did was peppered with much angst to shame Severus Snape. Giving up, she settled herself in a cozy chair and wore her IPod. Unfortunately, the world seemed to conspire against her.

"_Everything's so blurry and everyone's so fake_

_And everybody's empty and everything is so messed up._

_Preoccupied without you, I cannot live at all._

_My whole world surrounds you, I stumble then I crawl…"_

_  
Shit._ _Next. _She pressed the 'next' key.

"_How could an angel break my heart?_

_Why didn't he catch my falling star?"_

_  
Fuck. _Next.

"_I can't fight this feeling any longer._

_And yet I'm still afraid to let it show."_

_  
What the hell-?_ Next.

"_But you don't even know I'm alive._

_Baby, to you all I am is the invisible.."_

_  
FUCK!!! _Next. Next. Next.

"_I hate my world today…"_

"_I just wanna feel real love…"_

"…_and solitaire's the only game in town…"_

_AARGGHHH!!!_

She took off the IPod and threw it on the other sofa. She glared at it angrily, hating herself for programming it to reflect her emotions. _Smartest witch, my ass! You've just added another entity to ridicule you!_

_Malfoy likes Parkinson, so what? _Hermione thought derisively. _I just have to win Zabini over and it'd be fair…somehow…_

_Malfoy and I would be at equal footing by then. Then, I'll strike back! I'll make him jealous with Zabini._

_Or better yet, I'll seduce him while I 'pretend' to seduce Zabini!_

_Whoa, Hermione. _A small voice said. _What about decency? Propriety?_

_Screw decency! This is the new millennium! I'm a modern femme! I go after what I want. I want a piece of Malfoy's ass, I'll go get some!_

She stood up, eyed her surroundings menacingly (**a/n** picture a fish-bowl-camera-shot here!), smirking slightly.

"Watch out, Hogwarts! Granger's out to get her man!

_**  
A/N **__Okay, that last line was cheesy. And so are most girls._

_Acknowledging some songs: __**Toxicity**__ by System of the Down, __**London Bridge**__** by Fergie, **__Blurry__** by Puddle of Mudd**__How Could an Angel Break my Heart__** by Toni Braxton, **__Can't Fight this __**Feeling**__** by Reo Speedwagon, **__**Invisible**__ Man__** by 98°, **__**Bitch**__ by Meredith Brooks, __**Feel**__ by Robbie Williams, __**Solitaire**__ by Karen Carpenter_


End file.
